2nd Annual International Exchange Program for Graduate Students in Korean Literature

Wayne DeFremery

In June a number of Harvard graduate students traveled to Seoul to participate in the Second Annual International Exchange Program for Graduate Students in Korean Literature. There they were joined by students from many of Korea’s top universities including Seoul National, Yonsei, Ewha, and Korea University, as well as graduate students from the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Hawaii, and the University of British Columbia.

Held over three days, the first day of the conference featured graduate student papers on topics ranging from the formation of modern Korean literature to the diversity of modern Korean novels. Day two was devoted to a search for a new paradigm in the study of Korean literature. Scholars from around the world and representing a variety of different disciplines engaged in round-table discussions about the future of Korean literary studies. Professors Dan O’Neill and William Schaefer, scholars of Japanese and Chinese literature, respectively, from the University of California at Berkeley joined professors Hujiyshi Takayo (Nikata University), Chung Byung-sul (Seoul National University), Janet Poole (New York University), recent Harvard graduates Scott Swaner (University of Washington) and Shin Jiwon (University of California at Berkeley), and numerous others in a lively conversation about the state of the field.

Day three consisted of a panel discussion concerning the publication of Korean literature in translation, a translation workshop, as well as an opportunity for students to meet South Korean writer Cho Kyung-ran. Director of the Harvard Korea Institute, Professor David McCann began the panel with a discussion of the publishing industry in the United States. Other panelists included Professor Bruce Fulton (University of British Columbia), Lee Young-Jun (Harvard University), Wayne de Fremery (Harvard University), and Kwon Kyong-Mi (Harvard University), all of whom are actively involved in the translation and publication of Korean literature. The translation workshop lead by Professors McCann and Fulton had students break into groups to translate a poem by Kim So-wôl. After about two hours of intense work, each group presented its rendition of the poem "Rainy Day," often to the rapturous applause of their fellow students. The late afternoon talk by Cho Kyung-ran was a rare opportunity for students to gain insight into what it takes to be a writer in South Korea today.

Organized by Professors McCann and Kwon Young-Min (Seoul National University) and sponsored by the Ho-am Foundation, the Korean Literature Translation Institute, the Sunshik Min Endowment for the Advancement of Korean Literature at the Korea Institute, Harvard University, and the International Correspondence Foundation, the event was a great success. Students had the opportunity to not only share their own ideas and hear from leading figures in the field, but also to develop what are likely to be lifelong friendships with their colleagues and mentors from around the world.